Grizzly Creek

Grizzly Creek exploration

May 10, 2009

Solo scramble.

My original intention here was to hike up Grizzly Creek to check out the environs around Mount Evan-Thomas, Grizzly Peek and Opal Ridge south. My first visit to the area (Mount Denny) was very scenic with cloudy skies and so I thought it might be incredibly scenic with good weather and a decent amount of snow still topping the mountains in the area.

Low-lying, morning cloud provided some interesting views early on and the heavily folded north side of Grizzly Peak was once again very cool. On the way up Grizzly Creek, I got suckered into ascending an inviting looking gully that would lead to the far southwest end of Opal Ridge. After reaching several dead-ends I found a snow gully that appeared to offer some hope. Unfortunately, the gully also led to vertical cliff bands and dead-ends, but was beautiful to ascend. The rock on either side of the gully was gorgeous, again featuring some outstanding examples of rock-folding, and of course the blue sky and remaining snow made it even more stunning.

More searching revealed a possible ascent route through the rock-bands, but I wasn’t going to tackle them alone and decided to call it a day. Once back in the snow gully, I was able to easily follow it all the way back down to the trail. Excellent weather and scenery made this a more than worthwhile trip even if no summit was reached.

Morning cloud below The Fortress and Fortress Ridge